Marvel Rivals Black Widow Gameplay Has Serious Widowmaker Vibes

Marvel Rivals Black Widow Gameplay Has Serious Widowmaker Vibes



Key Takeaways

  • Marvel Rivals is a free-to-play third-person hero shooter with a massive launch roster of Marvel heroes.
  • Black Widow’s gameplay in Marvel Rivals resembles Overwatch’s Widowmaker, with unique abilities for sniping and defense.
  • The game provides familiar playstyles for migrating Overwatch players while offering its own unique twist on hero shooters.



Overwatch Widowmaker players who jump into Marvel Rivals when it launches later this week may feel at home with Black Widow, whose gameplay trailer has just recently been revealed. Black Widow is just one of 33 Marvel Rivals heroes that will be available to play for free at launch on December 6.

Marvel Rivals is looking to become the quintessential Marvel game for multiplayer fans as a free-to-play third-person hero shooter. Taking a lot of inspiration from Blizzard’s massive hit shooter Overwatch, Marvel Rivals will see teams of six duke it out over payloads and capture points across a variety of Marvel multiverse mashup locales, like Tokyo 2099, Yggsgard, Wakanda, an antarctic Hydra base, and more. The game’s massive launch roster is made up of all the main Avengers, as well as other Marvel legends like Wolverine, Spider-Man, and even Squirrel Girl.


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Now, just a few days from launch, Marvel Rivals has gone ahead and revealed gameplay footage of one of the Avengers, Black Widow. The brief, 50-second trailer showcased snippets of Black Widow gameplay, revealing her to be a duelist who wields a deadly sniper rifle, with a playstyle that’s very similar to Overwatch‘s popular sniper hero Widowmaker. The trailer shows Black Widow’s potential for insane sniper plays, popping off a number of one-shot headshot kills in a row.


Marvel Rivals Releases Black Widow Gameplay Trailer

While it looks like Black Widow is most effective as a long range sniper, she has ways to defend herself against attackers who rush her spot. One particular moment from the trailer showed her roundhouse kicking an opposing Black Panther away before reeling back in with her grapple hook for a dual-baton melee follow-up for the kill. Black Widow’s ultimate ability seems to be a large AOE plasma burst that softens enemies up for more effective body-shot sniper kills.


While Black Widow seems to be the main sniper hero of Marvel Rivals‘ roster, just like Widowmaker is for Overwatch, there are still some key differences. For one, Black Widow’s sniper doesn’t have Widowmaker’s charge-up function that delivers a deadlier blow when players wait for that third ping. Additionally, Black Widow‘s sniper doesn’t double as a close-range SMG, though she does still have ample defensive abilities that may require players to cycle her cooldowns efficiently. While Black Widow’s trailer didn’t show her using her grapple hook to reach higher ground, it could likely be assumed that it can be used in such a way, just like Widowmaker’s grapple in Overwatch, though the kick she delivered to the Black Panther at the end of the reel-in may suggest it can only be used on opponents.


It would seem that Marvel Rivals is covering its bases well with regard to providing playstyles that migrating Overwatch players can recognize and feel comfortable with. As for Overwatch 2, its very important 14th season is due to begin on December 10 and will add a new tank hero named Hazard. It’ll be very interesting to see how both games fare, and whether they will be able to co-exist as two of the biggest multiplayer hero shooters available.

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